The present invention relates generally to software system performance diagnosis, and more particularly, to network packet event characterization and analysis.
Network virtualization has been propounded as a diversifying attribute of the future inter-networking paradigm. By introducing a plurality of heterogeneous network architectures cohabiting on a shared physical substrate, network virtualization promotes innovations and diversified applications. As one of the core network virtualization technology, Open vSwitch (OVS) [1] is a production quality, multilayer virtual switch. It is designed to enable massive network automation through programmatic extension, while still supporting standard management interfaces and protocols (e.g. NetFlow, sFlow, SPAN, RSPAN, CLI, LACP, 802.1ag). It can operate both as a soft switch running within the hypervisor, and as the control stack for switching silicon. It has been ported to multiple virtualization platforms and switching chipsets.
However, when moving to this new distributed environment, there better be a way to have clear visibility and understanding of how the network is performing. When issues arise, it is essential to have the diagnostic and troubleshooting capability to solve them before any business impact to any tenant.
The traditional abstractions and mechanisms for monitoring the network are often somewhat fragmented. There are centralized software applications that monitor network elements using interfaces such as netflow and simple network management protocol SNMP. However, these mechanisms can suffer from inconsistent implementations across equipment and often do not expose information at the right granularity or abstraction.
Accordingly, there is a need for a solution for network packet event characterization and analysis that is not taught hereto before.